


Miscalculated Discoveries

by IfInterested



Category: Original Work
Genre: Astrology, Astronauts, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Other, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 15:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18781135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IfInterested/pseuds/IfInterested
Summary: Marley makes a deadly mistake for her team, so stowing away on the ship with them seems like the only logical solution. Right?





	Miscalculated Discoveries

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I wrote this fiction for a class of mine and I really liked it, so I wanted to upload it. I hope you enjoy!

Marley sat in an anxious silence as the rest of the crew were discussing back with Huston what to do with her. Her leg bobbed with less resistance than on Earth, but she almost didn't even notice at this point. She had run the calculations, it would be more expensive to send another craft to get her than to just let her stay on the mission, but at this point she was worried Aleksander would convince control. She glanced around the craft she had helped design, knowing every bolt and screw after hundreds of hours of studying the ship and every way it could fail.

That was why she was here. She knew her ship would fail. The margin of error had been way too great for it not to. She had written the calculations wrong, so when they were checked and checked again no one had caught the mistake. Especially after how cocky she had been about the calculations.

This whole mission would be her last. She knew that. She could have stayed home and probably gone the rest of her career without saying anything. But the crew would probably end up dead.

And Marley couldn't live with that.

She watched the door closely, searching for any sign that it was going to open and one of the members of the crew, one of her friends, would come out and smile. Evelyn would come and tell her she made a stupid decision, but she was glad Marley made it. Or Bonicary would hop out with a big smile and start rambling about the micro bacteria of their new planet of study.

Marley's heart ached a bit as she remembered the day she had been taken off the team. Budget cuts and her first 'mistake' in the calculations had put her on probation. Her trying to get the whole mission called off for another year had been the last straw.

Finally, Marley saw the door slowly open and Luther was the first person she saw. He pulled himself along before he arrived next to her. Marley offered an anxious smile and Luther raised an eyebrow in amusement before he rolled his eyes.

“You’re very stupid, Marley. But very smart. It’s honestly baffling how you can be so intelligent and yet make such idiotic decisions. A stowaway on an ISEA ship is unheard of. Maybe a commercial craft, but not an international craft. It goes against all of the nations’ wishes. I knew you were recruited from a commercial company, but you know better. This does not happen on an ISEA craft.” Marley sighed dramatically. Of course, it would be more a problem of this being an ISEA craft than her actually stowing away. The International Space Exploration Administration, or ISEA was the only company licensed in space exploration, supported by almost every nation after the disastrous period of failed commercial explanation in 2070.

“Luther, I told you why I came. The ship is going to fail. Aleksander is not equipped to handle the ship when it does. No one is, except me. I’ve been studying my mistake and I know how to fix it once it breaks. I know what I did wrong even!” Luther heaved a sigh, looking to Marley incredulously.

“You are still spouting that nonsense? Marley, you’re an intelligent woman, an extremely accomplished aerospace engineer. You’re a respected astronaut and scientist in our generation. Why can’t you just accept one mistake? Your work has been checked and checked again since you ‘discovered’ your error and no one else has found or even understood how you got to it. It does not exist, Marley. You got it right, just like always.” The air was stiff, tension there, but neither wanting to get into this fight again. That is, until Aleksander pulled himself through the doorway.

Aleksander floated over, the sight a bit comical with how angry he looked. “As much as you detest me, I cannot believe that you would go as far as to infiltrate this mission just to spite me. The Administration is furious with you. The team is furious with you. The whole damn world is furious with you! Now all our rations are off-“

“I brought my own.”

“The balance of the craft will be-“

“I designed this craft with balance in mind for six people, with even more stability for less. We only have five.”

“The oxygen tanks and emergency supplies-“

“Again, we have provisions for six on this flight. Anything I knew we wouldn’t have for six, I brought myself. I also passed the safety test. Same ones you did.”

Aleksander’s face went red with anger, but Marley’s gaze was steady. She had thought of absolutely everything she could for one mind. That’s why she had even attempted this. She was sure of her error and she was sure she wouldn’t hurt her crewmates. Luther placed a heavy hand on Alek’s shoulder.

“There’s no use arguing. She’s just another crew member now. It’s much too expensive to turn around or send another craft. Besides, it’s not as if we don’t know how she works.” Marley looked away from both men. It still stung that she had been taken off the team, but she knew Luther meant no harm.

There was silence for a moment before a loud crash was heard in the cabin over. All three astronauts turned to look before Bonicary popped her head in. “Sorry! Still getting used to the constant zero G. I ran into a wall.” Marley smiled a bit as Evelyn also came into view. “She’s fine. No cuts or bruises. Anyway, welcome back to the team, Marley. Next time just re-apply, please.” Luther chuckled as Alek crossed his arms.

“You do not have a job when you get back on Earth, Marley.” Alek’s words cut through the semi-happy atmosphere, slicing into Marley. She paused as her breath stuck in her throat. This was unavoidable, something she had accepted before she decided to do this. Her crew’s lives were more important than any job. She was smart, she could find a new one. Hopefully. Marley nodded gently as she met Alek’s gaze head on.

“I know, that. Your lives are more important.” Luther scoffed and Alek rolled his eyes, but Eve watched closely before she nodded a little. It was a relief to know that at least someone was on Marley’s side. Bonicary floated over, a soft smile on her face before she hugged Marley.

“I’m glad we get to do this mission together, no matter the circumstances.” Marley hugged her back tightly. “I’m glad too, Bunny.” Pulling away after a moment, Bunny smiled widely.

“And think of it! We’re going to be the first astronauts, the first people to interact with an alien species! The team on the ISEA Space Station isn’t making first contact, we are! We’re collecting the first samples with the micro bacteria!” Marley smiled a bit at Bunny’s excitement before Luther joined in.

“It is exciting! The samples of soil taken have been fascinating! Completely different materials from Earth, but the same level of habitability. Have you gone over the files the Delta crew sent? It’s fascinating what they’ve seen from the Station.” Bunny nodded a little, but she seemed a bit amused.

“You do realize the new files were almost entirely about the soil make-up and the geography but not the micro bacteria. That’s very interesting and all, but that’s your field, not mine. I wanna know how they work.” Luther chuckled a little and rubbed his head bashfully. It was a bit of an odd look for such a large and intimidating man, but it wasn’t unusual for him to be expressive.

As conversation started back up between her crew members, Marley went to a porthole and looked out. Her breath caught for a moment as she spotted Earth. The beauty captivated her as the craft sped away from her home. With a deep breath, she turned to her crewmates and joined in the conversation.

Together, the crew sat in the cockpit of the ship, strapped in and anxious. Except Marley. She was ready, the paneling she knew she would need open already opened. Finally, she waited. The malfunction was coming. She could feel it in her bones. She was ready. Her calculations were correct. They had to be.

In true Bunny fashion, Marley could hear her begin to bring up something she thought was controversial. Marley held back a laugh at Bunny’s words.

“I don’t believe in the Big Bang Theory.”

Marley could hear the groans as Bunny began her explanation. It was something Bunny always did to relieve tension, if not about the Big Bang than some other clearly almost proven theory. Everyone knew she didn’t mean any harm and, most of the time, is was a welcome distraction.

“I don’t think the universe just exploded out from one point. I think it more like stretched.”

Eve was the one to correct Bunny this time. Marley could just imagine her concerned face as she looked to Bunny. There was enough time spent together and enough of a bond for her to envision this whole talk.

“You do know that the Big Bang was just a bad name for the theory, right?”

“Is it? Tell me more.”

“It is more like a stretch than anything. There was no singular point. From what we know, the universe had some type of beginning or maybe just a pseudo-beginning and then began stretching. How did you become an astronaut again?”

“Just like that, Eve. Got everyone to explain everything to me over and over again until I understood. Also, I don’t want to think about dying right now, which is what I’d be thinking about if we weren’t talking. Tell me about stars. About their colors.”

This time it was Luther responding, his voice soft. If Marley knew Bunny, she was crying now as fear took over. This is how she kept herself calm, asking questions she knew the answers to. Marley felt more guilt blossom in her chest over her miscalculations. She had made Bunny cry and it ripped a hole in her heart.

“The hottest stars are blue, Type O stars. Those are the ones you like to look at. They die faster than cooler, smaller stars. The middle ones are Type A stars and they’re white. Right in the middle of heat and life span. Then there’s Type M stars, the coolest stars that look red. Just like the other stars depending on their size they die-“

“No more dying talk. Let’s talk about the galaxy. We’re in the Milky Way universe, but what about our galaxy. It’s the only one we’ve got, and I think we should name it.” Bunny sniffled a bit as she cut Luther off and Marley found herself entranced, wanting to go and hug Bunny close.

Marley felt the craft shake a little and her whole body went rigid. It stabilized in a few seconds, but she knew this was the beginning of the end. The craft would destabilize and then she’d be at work fixing the stabilizer and then running to help Alek and the rest of the crew pilot the ship to a safe landing on Enceladus. At least, that was the plan. Marley prayed it would work.

Just as Marley was thinking no one would answer Bunny, Alek surprised her by piing up. He usually just told Bunny she was being childish and that she was a grown woman. But this time his voice was soft and reassuring. Marley could imagine him gently taking Bunny’s hand.

“Remember our galaxy is one of many but our universe is the only one. You got those two mixed up this time. I’ll just hope that’s due to stress. We live in the Milky Way galaxy, a collection of dust and stars bound together by gravity. The galaxy is ours for the most part. The universe is to infinity, so we only have one. If you’re saying that the five of us should name the whole universe, I think that’s a bit unfair. It’s a pretty big place. I think everyone should have a say in that. Don’t you?”

There was no response before the craft shuttered dramatically before alarms started going off. The crew jumped into action, calling out to Marley as the alarms went off. Luther called the first, a destabilization imminent. Next was Bunny, her voice hard as if she hadn’t just been crying, calling that they were already off course. Manual overdrive would be necessary. Eve was next to call, saying that there was a possible rupture in the piping Marley was kneeling in front of, trying to keep herself anchored. Then there was Alek, his voice soft among all the other alarms and after the yelling of the other crew members.

“Crash course for Enceladus. Marley, you were right.”

She didn’t wait for another command. With all the grace of a practiced ballerina, Marley was fixing her mistake, having needed to stabilize the stabilizer under the gravity of Saturn just a hair more than she had already done due to Saturn being slightly closer to the craft than she had anticipated. It was a tiny, seemingly inconsequential mistake. It could cost the whole crew their lives.

Marley could hear Luther and Eve reporting to Huston, confirming that Marley had been correct and that she was currently fixing the problem. But they’d still have to land on Enceladus. There was no way around that. Marley had hypothesized that the ice could hold them after the research she had turned up was largely blank. This was one of Saturn’s moons that had not been explored by man. Probably because the Saturn moon missions had been overwhelmed by missions to study the new alien micro bacteria. Now was as good a time as ever, she supposed.

When the stabilizer was finally back online, the alarms went off and Alek was able to take control of the ship. This meant the ship was able to be controlled but needed to touch down and be recalibrated to be safe enough to make the journey anywhere else. Huston was busy making calculations for where on Enceladus they could safely land, but Marley was one step ahead. She grabbed her headset and pulled it on as she got strapped into her seat. “There’s a piece of ice that a mission a few years back hypothesized was actually frozen over land. If we can make contact there, we should be fine with the weight of the ship. My notes are in my office if you want to read them and go over the calculations, but I think it’s our best bet at this point.”

Huston seemed to be in turmoil, trying to figure out if Marley was right in a rush. They had a bit of time, a few hours maybe, until they touched. But that was a few hours of switching between pilots trying to wrestle a slightly unstable craft. They needed all the help they could get.

Marley looked to Alek and the rest of her crew, muting her mic as she uttered commands and they smoothly followed orders, falling back into their rhythm of training days as Marley at the helm and Alek as their co-captain. It felt right to be back in the captain’s chair. Marley felt like she was finally at home.

Turning her mic back on, Marley listened closely and relayed their real-time distance and how they were doing in terms of oxygen and other necessities. They could make it easily for a few days it would take to recalibrate and then continue the mission or go home based on Huston’s decision. They would be fine.

As they descended, Bunny took a stabilizing breath and then her face cracked into a smile. She looked to the other members of her crew and laughed a little, catching everyone’s attention.

“Here we go. Just like you said, Marley. But this time I don’t wanna participate in the whole ‘crash and burn’ part of this. Just the landing safely and then getting to go home. So, let’s do this!”

A smile graced Marley’s face before she winked to Bunny and nodded. “None of that ‘crash and burn’ part. It’s no problem. Huston, do we have clearance to land on Enceladus?” There was static for a moment and Marley frowned. They should still be able to hear Huston.

Silence for a heartbeat.

Another.

A third.

“Clearance granted, Marley. Sending coordinates directly to your navigation. It should be a bit easier to land that way.” The crew heaved a sigh together before they were hard at work again, calling commands and completing actions like clockwork. Finally, Enceladus was in view, coming to meet the ship fast without much of an atmosphere to buffer their landing. With the coordinates in view, Marley asked for semi-silence except from Alek for concentration’s sake. Together, the two began guiding the craft smoothly, though Marley worried they were going too fast. As if he could sense it, Alek shook his head.

“Don’t second guess yourself right now, Marley. An overcorrection can land us off course. We’re not going too fast or too slow.” Marley nodded, watching Enceladus coming closer and spotting the patch of solid looking ice. “Touch down in ten minutes.” Alek nodded as Huston copied. The silence was deafening over the roar of the engines.

“Count down, Huston, Alek. Keep me on track.” Again, Alek nodded, and Huston copied. The countdown continued, keeping Marley focused as she angled the craft and bit her lip as she adjusted their landing gear again and again, hoping the ice would hold and she’d be right about there being one parch of land on this ocean moon.

“Two minutes, Marley. We’re almost there.” Alek’s words rang in Marley’s ears as she nodded, thankful for his small corrections as they just touched the ground, the craft shuttering a bit with the touch down.

“One minute. Keep it steady.” Marley didn’t nod this time, her eyes glued to her work, her breath catching in her throat. She didn’t hear anything at this point, laser focused on landing the craft before it was over. The crew was celebrating with Huston as she sat there, still locked in the controls. Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face. She had done it. Her mistake was corrected. Her crew was safe.

Marley and her crew lounged around the spaceship a few hours after the landing, waiting on a deliberation from Huston on if they should continue the mission or send the crew back home. The crew had taken a vote, nearly unanimous save for Marley, who had voted to not vote as she had already been taken off the mission. 

So now the crew sat and waited, or more accurately floated and waited. Conversation flowed easily, but Marley wasn’t really all there. She was still in her head, worry still deep in her bones that she couldn’t get them home. Or maybe the ice would crack, and the craft would be plunged into freezing water they couldn’t escape. Or maybe another mistake could-

“Hey.”

Eve brought Marley out of her thoughts. Their eyes met and Eve raised an eyebrow. Marley could already tell what she was asking, but she didn’t want to answer that question. Playing dumb was a little easier after everything.

“What?”

Eve rolled her eyes dramatically and scoffed. “Why are you still in your head. We’re safe on Enceladus right now. If the ice was going to crack, it would have cracked by-“

A loud bang interrupted, and the crew was immediately on high alert. Once more the noise rang through the craft, as if it was being hit with something. Marley didn’t waste time in starting to suit up, slipping her clothes off and her suit on before she was grabbing for her space walk suit. Alek was quick to join her and then the rest of the crew followed suit as a louder bang followed.

Once they were all suited up, Marley instructed Eve, Bunny, and Alek to stay inside as Luther and Marley went to see what was going on. The craft hadn’t detected any asteroids hitting it, but another loud bang proved that something was hitting the craft. After sealing themselves in, Alek ran protocol for a spacewalk.

Luther stepped out first, hanging onto the ship as he activated his boots to anchor himself. He moved around the ship before he stopped dead in his tracks. Marley tapped him, trying to get him to move. When he wouldn’t, Marley grew anxious.

“Luther, what do you see?”

There was another loud bang, though only those inside could hear it. When Marley finally got Luther to move, she felt her jaw drop. There, at the base of the craft, was a creature. The creature moved on all fours, the front legs longer than the hunches of the back two legs and the entire form skinny, like an emaciated dog. But that wasn’t what struck her the most.

The creature was made of moving crystals. With every move it glittered and sparkled. Marley was in shock. At first, she thought its skin just looked like crystals, but when she spotted what looked like the shattered remains of another of the creatures just underneath the craft, she knew she was wrong. They were pure crystals. Before she could make another move, the creature turned a featureless head to her and backed away. Marley didn’t know what to do. The creature was amazing, a completely new semi-intelligent being was standing right in front of her and she had no idea what to do. Bunny would know what to do. This was her expertise.

“Bunny, we have an unidentified life form. One live and I believe one dead. Crystalized life forms. How should I proceed?”

“Don’t interact, take pictures. We don’t know what it’s made of or if it can hurt us. Stay careful and stay safe. Don’t touch, I’ll get out there in a bit and we can get the remains after some tests to see what it is or if we can interact with it.”

“It’s a little late for no interaction. It spotted me, I think. What do I do?”

Bunny was silent for a moment before she spoke in a hurried, hushed tone. “Don’t move. If it starts coming towards you, try to scare it away. We have to hope it doesn’t charge. How big is it?”

“About the size of a medium to large dog, like a Labrador. I think we killed the other one by landing the ship on it.”

“It may try to attack. Be careful and stand your ground. Luther needs to stand with you. You have numbers on it.”

Luther moved next to Marley, the action immediately catching the creature’s attention before it was backing away and then scurrying off, it’s gait an odd lopsided run as its back legs unfurled a bit, like if a human were to run on all fours. Once it was gone, Luther and Marley shared a look before starting back into the ship. Luther had taken photos of the creatures, so Marley wasn’t worried about not having any pictures herself.

Once they were back inside, Bunny waited impatiently next to them as they took off their suits. As she watched them, Eve bit her lip. She seemed worried about this new discovery. Alek was the only person still acting normally. When they were finally out of their suits, Bunny smiled widely.

“Photos! Let me see! We need to put these in and then we can send them to Huston! We’ve just made the discovery of a lifetime!”

Marley chuckled a bit before Luther handed over his pin number to Bunny. She rushed over to the console and put the numbers in before she was examining the creatures. Upon closer inspection, Bunny pointed out tiny, beady eyes like two glossy black pearls. She examined every angle and photo we had as she typed notes before she sent them off to Huston with the question of if she should go and retrieve the remains of the other being or leave it be. Huston was quick to respond with a call. After the usual greetings and updates, Bunny reclined her seat, secured there by a seat belt as she began talking.

“Marley and Luther have just discovered a new semi-intelligent life-form. They appear to be crystalized dog type creatures. From the pictures I just sent, you can tell that the creatures are relatively small, maybe two feet or so long, if that. It seems when we landed, we killed one of the creatures. Marley stated that we may be able to retrieve the body and study it. I can begin running the preliminary tests to see if we can bring the creature’s remains onto the craft in the lab and maybe work on it in the containment case?”

As Huston listened, Marley observed her crewmates. Everyone was apprehensive except Bunny. That was understandable, as she had dreamed her whole life of discovering an alien species. That day was here now, and she knew Bunny was going to jump on the opportunity. As Huston deliberated, Bunny smiled to the rest of the crew. “We’re making history. Are you guys not excited? How are you all not excited when we’re making history?!”

With a slightly frustrated sigh, Bunny slumped as best she could into the chair she was in and waited. After a long while of deliberation, Huston radioed back. Bunny was to begin taking samples and testing to see if the creature would be safe to examine. And Marley would be helping her.

Once the two ladies were suited up, they both left the ship and activated their boots, allowing them to walk normally. Once they were sure no other creatures were around, Marley led the way to where the creature’s remains were. As soon as they were near, Bunny began taking as many pictures as she could from every angle. After that, she began looking over the creature for a few movements before softly whistling.

“This is amazing, Marley. I think we really have something here. I think we found a non-carbon-based life-form. I’ll need to test it further, but just the make-up of this creature is amazing.” She continued rambling about how amazing the creature was as Marley watched their surroundings. Out in the distance, Marley spotted another of the creatures. She was quick to take photos before it seemingly disappeared into the ground. A bit of confusion held Marley before she realized Bunny had stopped talking.

Turning to look, Bunny was face to face with one of the creatures, her entire body stiff as it stared her down. This close, the beady, black eyes were easy to see, but what caught Marley’s attention was how beautiful it was. From far away, the creatures looked deformed and frightening, but this close it looked beautiful. Any light cast on the creature reflected everywhere in a beautiful kaleidoscope of purples and blues. It was enchanting.

Marley felt herself wanting to get closer to it, entranced by the beauty and the want to understand it. She took a step closer and the creature stiffened, Bunny going rigid with it. She was much closer to the creature. Marley realized all at once that she could very well be in danger. Before there was any other move, the creature moved in almost a convulsing way as Marley watched the back legs unfurl as she had seen before and then it was off, bolting away from the two.

Sharing a look, Bunny finished her samples before they rushed back onto the ship. As soon as she was able, Bunny rushed to the console and put in her pin. She pulled up the pictures she had taken from being that up close and personal with the creature and giggled like a schoolgirl.

“Look at this thing! Look at it! It’s gorgeous! Look how beautiful this weird dog thing is! We have to name it! I think Geodog is good for now, but look at that little monster! We discovered it!” Marley rolled her eyes a bit as she walked away from Bunny and Luther. With a smile, she walked towards the back of the craft and looked out the window. A small smile graced her lips as she looked out at the view from Enceladus. A touch to her shoulder was the only thing that alerted her, and she was surprised to see Alek there.

"Marley, I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. About everything. You were right all along, like you always are, and as your crew we should have listened. I’m really glad you came. We’d probably all be dead without you. So, thank you so much, Marley. I’m proud to be your co-captain.” A big smile graced Marley’s face and she pulled Alek into a hug.

“And I’m really glad you’re my co-captain as well. I wouldn’t want anyone else.” Alek smiled a bit before Eve popped her head in the doorway. “Marley, Alek, come quickly! Huston has some news for us!” All of them went to the console and put on their headsets. There was static for a moment before Eve softy told Huston that they were back. After a few more moments, Huston spoke.

“Marely, on behalf of the ISEA, I want to apologize for demoting you where your calculations were incorrect and you tried to fix them. I also want to apologize for taking you off the mission. Everyone at control is happy you were there, and the world is grateful that you save this mission. It is my pleasure to re-instate you as Captain of this mission and give you a new mission to stay on Enceladus to study this new life-form. Will you accept my and ISEA’s apology and your reinstated role as captain?” Marley’s smile could have cracked her face.

“Of course. I accept your apology and I am happy to regain my title as captain. Thank you so much.” There were more pleasantries and chat before Huston ended the call and Marley looked to her team. Four pairs of expectant eyes were on her and she didn’t disappoint.

“Time to get to work, everyone.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to keep up with me, you can find me on twitter @InterestedIf


End file.
